The trustees do not want to succumb to emotional outcries and media pressure to have the bronze statue taken down. They also are sensitive to the many alumni and students who hold on to adoration for the man who was a part of the program for 61 years.

Paterno’s role in the cover-up for convicted child molester Jerry Sandusky, as alleged in the Freeh Report this week, makes the statue for so many a painful and infuriating reminder of Paterno’s abject failure to protect the innocence of Sandusky’s victims.

“You can’t let people stampede you into making a rash decision,” a trustee told ESPN.com. “The statue represents the good that Joe did. It doesn’t represent the bad that he did.”

According to ESPN.com, some trustees believed the statue eventually would have to be torn down. However, most reached the consensus that it should remain standing for now. Some, sources said, insisted that it should never be removed.

“It has to stay up,” a trustee told the website. “We have to let a number of months pass, and we’ll address it again. But there is no way, no way. It’s just not coming down.”

Paterno’s contemporary, former Florida State coach Bobby Bowden, is among the most influential voices insisting the statue has no place on campus.

“You go to a Penn State football game and there’s 100,000 people down there and they see that statue and you know doggone well they’ll start talking about Sandusky,” Bowden told The Associated Press. “If it was me, I wouldn’t want to have it brought up every time I walked out on the field.”

Paterno, along with president Graham Spanier, athletic director Tim Curley and vice president Gary Schultz, knew of the 1998 investigation of Sandusky, the Freeh report claims. Paterno also dissuaded administrators from exposing Sandusky after he was seen raping a young boy in the shower in 2001, the internal investigation concluded.

At the same time, Paterno and his family donated more than $4 million to the university and coached hundreds of football players to victories achieved on and off the field. His 409 career wins is more than any coach in major college football—eclipsing the record held by the late Grambling State coach Eddie Robinson just before Sandusky was arrested.

On Saturday, the New York Times reported that in the same month Paterno testified before a grand jury, he began negotiating to amend his contract. He would be paid $5.5 million and his tenure would end at the conclusion of the 2011 season. His original contract had him coaching through the 2012 season. Paterno died Jan. 22 of this year.

The Paterno statue outside Beaver Stadium is being closely guarded by security these days, with rumors abound that the campus police will tear down the statue in the dark of night.

Trustees chairwoman Karen Peetz acknowledged that the statue is a “very sensitive topic.” She said the decision would not fall solely on the board, either. The board fired Paterno over the phone in November, a move that resulted in outrage among the Penn State community.

This time, if and when the statue comes down, it will be after careful consideration. Nike didn’t wait, removing Paterno’s name from its child development center. On Saturday, the halo atop Paterno’s head on the Heister Street mural was painted over by an artist, ESPN.com reports. The Lasch Building locker rooms, where Sandusky committed many of his crimes, will eventually be renovated.

As for the statute, a permanent decision will be made in due time.

Said trustee Ken Frazier: “I think we have to take some time, some reflection and distance before making a decision on how we will think about Joe Paterno’s entire life and body of work.”

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